


Eye of the Storm

by awaytobeunshaken



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-24 19:29:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21104798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awaytobeunshaken/pseuds/awaytobeunshaken
Summary: Discovery has sent an away team to search for survivors from a crashed Klingon ship. Unsuccessful, they're in the process of returning to the ship when Paul hears a sound coming from the wreckage.





	Eye of the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Accidental baby acquisition for Culmets Week 2019. Shout out to the Discord for the discussion months ago that inspired this.

“Discovery to away team, any luck?”

Hugh flipped open his communicator, hesitating before he spoke. “No, sir. Still no survivors.”

“The interference is getting worse. We need to get you out of there now.”

They’d picked up the distress signal six hours ago, been searching the wreckage of the Klingon ship for nearly two. Ionic interference in the atmosphere kept them from transporting more than one person at a time, and storms in the area were making it worse. Paul watched as Discovery beamed up the rest of the away team, until he and Hugh were the only ones remaining on the surface. 

The cry in the distance was faint at first, but had been growing louder throughout the evacuation. “Are you ready, Mr Stamets?” 

The crying was still muffled, but by now had grown desperate. He looked at Hugh. “You hear that, don’t you?” And the look on his face told Paul everything he needed to know. “Negative, Discovery. Seems we’ve found someone after all.”

“If we don’t get you out of there now, you’re going to be cut off for at least the next twenty-four hours.”

“I know. We’ve got supplies. We’ll manage.”

With his communicator reattached to his belt, Paul followed Hugh who was already racing toward the source of the sound. He caught up to find Hugh digging through the wreckage, tossing aside chunks of hull plating as if they were pillows. The crying grew louder as Hugh worked, Paul joining him, helping as best he could. The last piece was huge though, and despite the time Hugh put into his workouts, Paul was still surprised to see him prop it up above his head, revealing what had until recently been a nursery. 

The child screamed from its little cradle, the legs of which had collapsed, but the edges had somehow been strong enough to protect the infant from being crushed. Paul dragged the cradle out into the open, then started scanning what was left of the room.

“Hurry up, Paul. I can’t hold this forever.”

“If we can’t get back to the ship we’re gonna need supplies!” He scooped up a pile of cloths from a drawer. Blankets? Diapers? It didn’t matter; they’d need both. He stuffed them into his bag and opened a small cabinet near the floor to reveal, thankfully, a cooler containing several bottles of milk. He scooped these into his arms and hurried back to the crib as the bulkhead crashed to the ground behind him.

The baby had stopped crying momentarily at all the activity, but now started again. “Poor thing,” Paul cooed as he scooped it out of the crib. “You must be starving.” He fumbled with one of the bottles but managed to get it open and into the baby’s mouth, and it started sucking furiously. His heart was still pounding from adrenaline as he sank gently to the ground, finally looking up to see Hugh, rubbing at sore muscles and looking down at him with the softest smile on his face. “What?”

“Nothing.” And the smile grew even bigger. “I just wish that you could see yourself right now.”

Once the bottle was empty, Paul got up and handed the baby to Hugh. “She doesn’t seem to be hurt, but you’d be more qualified to determine that for sure. I’m gonna try to find us some shelter. I’m really not liking the look of those clouds.” After about twenty minutes of searching he came across a small cave, really just a pile of rocks with a small overhang, but it would do.

Hugh joins him shortly. “You would pass her off to me just in time to need a diaper change. She’s fine though; a few scratches and bruises but nothing serious.” Paul held his arms out for the baby. “Just for a moment while I sit down,” Hugh said, handing her over. He reclined against the rock wall of their shelter, then took the infant back, where she lay sleepily across his chest.

Now Paul completely understood the expression on Hugh’s face earlier. This was such a different look at his partner, domestic and homey, and for a moment Paul could see a view of a different life, a kind of life they might have had together. “Hugh?” he said, settling to the ground beside his partner. “Did you ever think about having kids?”

“I wondered what it would be like,” Hugh said, stroking the infant’s back. “If things were different, if I weren’t in Starfleet, if I had someone to raise a family with.”

“And what about now, together?”

Hugh’s hand froze, and he looked at Paul for a long moment before responding. “Is this a hypothetical, or are we talking about this?”

It wasn’t Paul had ever considered, and probably not anything he should be considering now. But looking at Hugh here, like this thinking of all the upheaval their lives had gone through, somehow brought all those possibilities into stark relief. “Yeah, I think we are. I mean we could. Think about it, I mean.”

Hugh looked down at the tiny body lying on top of him. “Yeah. Maybe we could.”


End file.
